Delegate Preperation

Delegate: A delegate is the basic term for a participant in an MUN conference. Representing a specific UN member state in one of the different committees, their primary goal is to steer discussions in a direction that will assure that their state's goals are being met in Resolutions passed by the committee.

Placard: The sign signifying your country. Used within voting to showcase one's presence and to signal towards a chair.

Chair / Dais: Chairs are your essential referees. Using the Rules of Procedure, they facilitate the debates.

Decorum: Refers to the realism required to simulate a UN committee and the need to act appropriately for the situation. Stay "in character" as a delegate with the responsibility to represent their state with dignity, or bring shame upon your nation.

Gavel: The almighty hammer swung by a chair during decision-making. If you hear its clamoring thud, you'd better listen!

Out of Order: Actions which are a big NO-NO. If something is Out of Order, it falls outside what is allowed by the RoP.

Position Paper: Your academic paper which provides the Dais with a summary of your member state's position. This text is normally written by a delegate and summarizes how their country understands the issue at hand. It includes a country's connections, criticism, world view and what they would like to achieve within debates in the long run.

RoP (Rules of Procedure): Your religious text. The Rules of Procedure entail the rules of how the MUN you are partaking in is run. These can change slightly from MUN to MUN, so it is never a bad idea to read through them. The Dais will adhere to the RoP to maintain formal organization during the committee.

Motion: You want something? You motion for it. Motions are a way to officially channel requests and to guide the conversation in a direction which you personally would favour. Oftentimes these have to be voted upon.

Simple Majority: 50% +1 must give support for the measure to pass.

Quorum: The number of delegates required to take some action permitted by the RoP Points.
Point of Information: Sometimes the RoP can be a bit confusing. A Point of Information is normally a question of a delegate to the Chair in regards to understanding a rule and how this rule should be used, or any other thing within the committee that they may not understand perfectly well.

Point of Order: If you notice someone not following the Rules of Procedure, be it another delegate or even the Chair, this is how you can call them out. This Point can prove to be rather important if a rule break would have heavily influenced the flow of a session.

Right of Reply: Sometimes debates can get heated, which might end with certain delegates or countries insulting one another in an offensive manner, provoking the right to reply and defend the national honor that has been called into question. If the Chair approves, the insulted party will gain the opportunity to respond to insults directed at them. There is no right to reply to a right of reply.

Clause: A clause is an instruction that details the policies the committee has decided to implement once a draft resolution is passed.

Preambulatory Clause: A preamble proceeds the main text. Explains why the committee has decided on the policies mentioned within the operative clauses. They can give context as to the reasoning, explain a problem, showcase data, acknowledge past actions by the committee or other UN organizations, etc. Normally italicized and not numbered.

Operative Clause: Numbered clauses which detail policies that are implemented to solve the conflict at hand.

Working Paper: Normally a first draft includes first ideas of what the clauses should entail. Normally written by a block of delegates who roughly agree on ideas

Draft Resolution: The final draft of a working paper that has both proper formatting and content, so that it may be approved by the chair. Once it is approved it will be discussed and voting can start.

Sponsor: A major contributor to a draft resolution is its sponsors. They will be named within the document and often one of them will be the one introducing it within the council. Limited to 5.

Signatories: Unlimited Amount. As a signatory one essentially signals that one stands behind what the document says and intends to vote for it. A way to show support towards a Draft Resolution.Amendment: Amendments are used to change policies provided, add new ones, or erase sections and clauses that others might not agree with.

Friendly Amendment: An amendment that the sponsors can agree on and that, thus, gets added immediately to the document.

Unfriendly Amendment: An amendment that sponsors disagree with, and that needs to be voted upon.

Research tips Topic: Read your background guide several times. Follow-up on ideas and citations generated from the background guide. Find past resolutions by the committee about the topic. Learn what the UN system is already doing, then think of ways for it to improve.
State Policy:
1.   Visit the website https://www.un.org/en/library/unms to find speeches, voting records, and resolutions.
2.   Visit http://www.un.int for your country’s Mission to the UN.
3.   Government websites can be useful for finding goals and past actions
UN system: Read the UN Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and begin building your knowledge base. Know the powers and purpose of your assigned committee to know what can and cannot be done. Resolution Writing guide
Resolve the issue or advance the cause as best as can be done by the committee.
Sample Preambulatory Clauses from UNSC Resolution 2712 (15 November 2023)
Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
Reaffirming that all parties to conflicts must adhere to their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law,
Stressing that international humanitarian law provides general protection for children as persons taking no part in hostilities, and special protection as persons who are particularly vulnerable, and recalling that the taking of hostages is prohibited under international law,
Recalling that all parties to armed conflict must comply strictly with the obligations applicable to them under international law for the protection of children in armed conflict, including those contained in the Geneva Conventions of 12th August 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977, as well as the relevant conventions regarding the involvement of children in conflict situations,
Expressing deep concern at the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and its grave impact on the civilian population, especially the disproportionate effect on children, underlining the urgent need for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access, and stressing the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence and the obligation to respect and protect humanitarian relief personnel,
Rejecting forced displacement of the civilian population, including children, in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law,
Expressing deep concern that the disruption of access to education has a dramatic impact on children and that conflict has lifelong effects on their physical and mental health,
Commending the ongoing efforts of several regional and international actors as well as of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to address the hostage and humanitarian crises, Sample Operative clauses from UNSC Resolution 2712 (15 November 2023):
1. Demands that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, especially children;
2. Calls for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable, consistent with international humanitarian law, the full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access for United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other impartial humanitarian organizations, to facilitate the continuous, sufficient and unhindered provision of essential goods and services important to the well-being of civilians, especially children, throughout the Gaza Strip, including water, electricity, fuel, food, and medical supplies, as well as emergency repairs to essential infrastructure, and to enable urgent rescue and recovery efforts, including for missing children in damaged and destroyed buildings, and including the medical evacuation of sick or injured children and their caregivers;
3. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, especially children, as well as ensuring immediate humanitarian access;
4. Calls on all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance indispensable to their survival, consistent with international humanitarian law, which has a disproportionate impact on children, welcomes the initial, although limited, provision of humanitarian supplies to civilians in the Gaza Strip and calls for the scaling up of the provision of such supplies to meet the humanitarian needs of the civilian population, especially children;
5. Underscores the importance of coordination, humanitarian notification, and deconfliction mechanisms, to protect all medical and humanitarian staff, vehicles including ambulances, humanitarian sites, and critical infrastructure, including UN facilities, and to help facilitate the movement of aid convoys and patients, in particular sick and injured children and their caregivers;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to report orally to the Security Council on the implementation of this resolution at the next mandated meeting of the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, and further requests the Secretary-General to identify options to effectively monitor the implementation of this resolution as a matter of prime concern;
7. Decides to remain seized of the matter. Rules of Procedure
Delegates will be provided with short-form rules of procedure sheets during registration and are encouraged to attend the Rules of Procedure training session. The Dais will have control over the committee at all times. Decisions of the Director-General over the interpretation of the rules of procedure shall be final.